TECHNICAL: AIR TRANSPORT
New assembly line for MD-90 SERIES
The three versions of the McDonnell Douglas MD-90
currently on the drawing board
will be built on a new production
line, and probably not at the
Douglas headquarters in Long
Beach.
Walt Orlowski, recently-
appointed general manager of
the MD-90 programme, says that
the company is currently consid
ering where to build the new
twinjets, which will not replace
MD-80s on the current assembly
line at Long Beach.
"We would not want to stop
the MD-80 production line
because we have started the
MD-90," says Orlowski. "We are
going to continue to offer the
MD-80 until customers stop
buying it. We will not stop
because we have decided that
they ought not to buy it".
The siting of the new MD-90
line will depend on whether
Douglas decides to increase
production rates on the MD-11,
because of the demand on space
and tooling at Long Beach. If a
rate increase is agreed on the
MD-11, Orlowski says that the
MDr90 would be built elsewhere,
although he adds: "I would not
rule out Southern California,
because there are other places
near Los Angeles where we could
do it."
The company expects to start
offering the International Aero
Engines V2500 on three versions
of the MD-90 within the next
three months, after completing a
detailed market survey with IAE.
The decision to offer the
engine would almost certainly
mean the demise of the General
Electric GE36 unducted fan, at
least for the foreseeable future.
MD-90s with V2500 engines
would be around $1 million
cheaper than propfan-powered
versions, and would offer
reduced technological risk,
because the V2500 has already
been certificated on the Airbus
Industrie A320.
Douglas concedes that, with
fuel prices unlikely to rise
substantially in the near future,
V2500 gets majo
International Aero Engines (IAE) has clinched its most
significant deal to date with an
order from International Lease
Finance Corporation (ILFC) for
V2500 turbofans to power 24
Airbus A320/321s.
It is the first time a major
Airbus operator has made a
straightforward selection of the
V2500. The Braniff contract
earlier this year was a legacy of
Pan Am's intended purchase of
the Airbus, which foundered,
leaving the engines unclaimed.
The latest order is also the first
for the uprated 28,0001b-thrust
-A5 version of the engine,
designed specifically for the
newly-launched A321 stretched
version of the A320. ILFC is
buying approximately 53 engines
there is "inadequate motivation"
for airlines to gamble on
unducted-fan technology in
return for improved fuel effi
ciency. Orlowski says: "Our
conclusion is that we are tech
nically ready [to offer a propfan-
powered MD-90]. We wish the
market was ready, but it still
seems to be price-driven". •
boost from ILFC
worth more than $250 million, to
equip 12 A320s and 12 A321s.
The A3 20s will have the standard
25,0001b-thrust -Al engine. The
-A5 is scheduled to run in early
1991, and deliveries of both
ILFC types will start in 1992. Rig
testing of components has
already begun.
IAE's fortunes have improved
greatly in 1989, owing to new
orders worth $1-6 billion which
have taken the total orderbook to
$2-6 billion. The V2500 has
been selected for 145 aircraft on
firm order and for 71 on option.
The five-nation consortium has
high hopes of powering
Egyptair's newly-ordered six
A321s, having already won the
contract to power the carrier's
seven A320s on order. •
24 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 24 June 1989